Wednesday, January 20, 2010

YMC doesn't need to speak on behalf of children... Our kids can speak for themselves! At a recent Odyssey mentoring session facilitated by our partners Street Poets, our mentors and mentees brought their souls into the room.

One of our mentees, a brilliant and guarded 14-year-old, was brave enough to read the poem below to a room full of 80 people... and now she's allowed us to share her poem with you:

In memory of a girl who used to laugh and smile for no reason at allA girl who used to stick her chest out with her head help up high, nice and tall.I find myself wondering, who I am to be brilliant, beautiful, and talented? The voices in my head scream at me to hide the person that lies within because that person no one understands, the pain, the hurt, now one gives a damn. The blood I bleed, the tears I shed, my highs and lows are gone. He kicked, stabbed and broke my heart, to the point where me and my self esteem fell apart.I’m not beautiful, I wish these people would stop lying because I’m internally dying, to be this person I’m not, happy, beautiful and talented.I wish the pain would stop. I wish people would quit saying I’m pretty or beautiful because I know that I’m not. I don’t want to be happy and I don’t want to smile,I want to be left alone with my tears and sorrows, and even some days I wished that I wouldn’t see tomorrow.

... And her mentor was right there with her when she read her poem. The greeting we use, "Sawubona," means "I see you." Her mentor got to let her know that she heard her - the real her - and she was still going to be there. That's the miracle of mentoring.

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Youth Mentoring Connection

Youth Mentoring Connection awakens at-risk youth to their power, unique gifts and purpose. Our programs throughout the Los Angeles area provide our youth with a vital sense of belonging by matching youth with caring adult mentors and providing matches with supportive and dynamic group activities.

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Startling Results:

96% of YMC mentees graduate compared to less than 50% of their peers ..................................
Three gangs no longer exist because of YMC programs ...............................
YMC Mentees:
• 72% less likely to use drugs
• 66% improved school attendance
• 68% less likely to resort to violence
• 3 gangs dissolved
• 81% improved relationships with parents
• 90% improved self-esteem
• 83% improve relationships with people of other
cultures and ethnicities